Chapter 8 - Queen Takes Pawn

Somewhere in the Far East Sector - God Eater World - one day after the end of the previous chapter

(Scáthach's P.O.V)

The Ogretail Aragami roars one final time before it dies, having been skewered by one of my lances before it begins to fade into ambient oracle cells. I sigh as I retrieve the lance from the dead body before it fades in a burst of particles, my mind is still deep in thought as I had hoped that taking this solo mission would allow me time to get my head together..

Unfortunately, if anything, the killing of aragami isn't doing anything to clear my head, just delaying the need to process the situation. Ultimately though I have run out of Ogretails to slay for the moment so I decided to sit down on some rubble to finally confront the issue that's been plaguing my mind currently..

That problem is one Alisa Ilinichina Amiella, who has recently appeared at the far east branch. For most the presence of another New-Type God Eater is only a good thing, for someone like myself who knows how the story is supposed to go, it only signals that the window to try and change the future is closing fast.

I take a moment to collect my thoughts while staring up at the sky and begin to break the situation down piece by piece. First is that Alisa is here at last, meaning that Lindow will be in her cross-hairs due to the brainwashing she unknowingly went through at the hands of her Personal doctor..

While I could do without Lindow's casual flirting, it's nowhere near enough to want him to get stuck dealing with his canon fate. The problem then is the fact that if I prevent Lindow's separation from the party, there is a good chance that Lindow will blow the whistle on Johannes much earlier than the original plot intended.

With the bullshit that Johannes pulls later on completely avoided and with the Dual Blade God Arcs almost finished, I am technically no longer needed here. Meaning I can leave this world much earlier than intended, something I am honestly tempted to follow through on.

The problem with this scenario..?

It would require that I capture Alisa, to begin with, something that would have a knock-on effect for the later plot of God Eater 2. Alisa's capture would be the only way to ensure that Lindow doesn't suffer the fate of his canon counterpart as Alisa's mind wouldn't have to deal with the brainwashing anymore..

It would also make her my very first capture, which would help with the loneliness in terms of being unable to have someone to confide in and plan out endeavors in the other worlds, even if she wouldn't be the best for it considering her state currently..

Ultimately in the end, the main problem is that if I go through with this choice, I have to follow through to its final conclusion, no matter what it ends up being. But if I were to let things go their natural course, I would be able to somewhat predict how the future will turn out in the short term.

The long term though is out of the question regardless as with the Dual-Blade God Arc being released far earlier than intended in the timeline, even such a minor thing as that could have a ripple effect that even I can't foresee..

Meaning there is a chance the events of God Eater 2 won't happen the same way, and even a chance God Eater 3's plot will change drastically. I suppose in the end though, there is little point in trying to decide now..

I sigh as I leap off the piece of rubble, landing on my feet. As I start getting ready to head back to Fenrir, I immediately feel eyes upon me, hungry and deadly eyes. I leap up into the air just in time to dodge a Vajira with golden fur, one that is much larger than regular Varja as I only just barely manage to get above it.

"A Golden Varja?!" I exclaim in disbelief, as this particular Aragami shouldn't be appearing at all yet, not until at least God Eater 2. Regardless I prepare for combat, landing behind the Golden Vajra twirling my twin spears with intent as the golden Vajra turns around and looks straight at me..

The sheer size of it and the speed that it moved earlier, I can't afford to treat it like any other Vajra. Before I move to attack, however, the Shroud of power which has previously been silent in my previous fights with the aragami suddenly forms over me as the shadowy cloak seems to sense the danger present in this aragami.

Before I can get over my shock from the Shroud of Power forming without me commanding it, the Golden Vajra charges at me, forcing me to focus my attention on it. I quickly slide under the charging aragami while creating an explosive Ainz rune on its abdomen, only activating it once I'm clear of this Vajra variant.

The explosion ripples through the underbelly of the Golden Vajra, making it give off a painful roar before turning around swiftly to try and leap at me. Seeing this, I decide to make use of the Shroud of Power having formed around me and command it to fight alongside me..

What I had not anticipated at how eager the shroud of power was to hear that exact command, as it swiftly forms a pair of arms and hands before clasping them together and slamming down the Golden Vajra in mid-air, the incredibly large Vajra variant crashing down with a thud.

I quickly rush forward to take advantage of the situation, twin spears poised to take out the Golden Vajra's eyes. However, the Golden Aragami has other ideas, as it leaps away briefly before rushing at me, the shroud of power reacting quickly by forming another large arm and hand once again before punching the incoming Aragami flat on the nose.

The unexpected attack causes both pain to the aragami and for it to stop its momentum not far from me, thus allowing me to leap up and stab one of my spears into the Golden Vajra. As it roars, I briefly consider killing it but choose a different option for how to handle this unexpected appearance of a God Eater 2 Variant of the Vajra, something that I can tell the Shroud of power approves..

Immediately the shroud of power rushes forward and begins to rapidly envelop the Golden Vajra as it roars and struggles to break free of the shadowy entity that is trying to wrap it up in a smoky, hazy, and shadowy cocoon.

Unlike the myriad of Ogretails I've captured, this Golden Vajra takes a grand total of 10 minutes to finish binding. Once the shroud of power returns to me, the Golden fur of the Vajra Variant has become a darkened silver, with the eyes have turned from red to electric blue as split tails on the back have transformed to be more like trails of shadows in the shape of tails..

Most importantly, I can tell that this thing is entirely at my command. I can't help but grin as I can tell that unlike the Shadow Ogretails, I don't need to feed it as it seems to now be able to survive entirely off my own energies, which thanks to Inexhaustible is impossible to drain even if it were to gorge on the connection..

"Heh, I think I'll keep you, unlike the Ogretails I captured…." I say while staring down at the obedient former Golden Vajra. I remove the spear I lodged in it's back before and watch as shadows rush forth to heal the wound, intriguing me before I leap off its back..

"Well, you aren't a Golden Vajra, are you…so I think I'll call your species the Darksteel Vajra" I say, the Vajra giving a soft, approving growl as I realize that due to my connection to it and due to its already incredible strength prior to its capture, it seems to be capable of comprehending what I am saying..

While it may not be able to speak like a human now, I wonder if the Darksteel Vajra will do so eventually if it spends enough time connected to me. The only issue now is that I can't exactly hide something of this size from Fenrir, so I have to figure out what to do with it..

However, it seems that the Darksteel Vajra understands this issue as without warning, it leaps forward and suddenly disappears into my own shadow. The shock I feel is immense as that's an ability akin to the Tempest Wolves from the That time I reincarnated as a slime anime, not to mention I can barely sense the presence of the Darksteel Vajra in my shadow, and the only reason I can even sense it is through the conjunction perk..

Now I can't help but wonder if the Shadow Ogretails had abilities that I was never made aware of, although chances are they don't due to being the weakest aragami around. Perhaps I should try hunting stronger aragami at one point just to see what sort of abilities they'd have once bound to me..

The moment that thought crosses my mind, I groan as I realize that I am starting to treat dangerous, apocalyptic monsters as another form of pokemon. Regardless I decided to head back, hoping that whatever sensors they had at the base do not detect the Aragami hiding in my shadow..

Fenrir Far East Branch - Two hours later

(Scáthach's P.O.V)

When I had returned to Fenrir, I had half-expected to be greeted with Aragami sensor alarms going wild in the base. Instead, it's business as usual with no one the wiser that an Aragami is in the base, albeit residing in my shadow.

What I was greeted with, however, was Dr. Sakaki rushing to collect me in order for today's designs of the Dual Blade God Arc to go through the simulation again. Both I and Dr. Sakaki are eager to see how things will pan out in the simulation, although we're both bracing ourselves for another failure..

"Relax Scáthach, I am certain that this is the design that will pass the simulation stage, I just know it..!" Dr. Sakaki says, excited to see the simulation of the latest prototype of the Dual Blade God Arc.

"I know that Doctor, yet I can't help but feel the need to brace myself for yet another failure and more work on the project.." I say, making the white-haired doctor hum in thought before nodding, acknowledging my point before we both turn to watch the simulation on the screen..

As the simulation begins, the standard use of the dual blades by the simulated God Eater is by this point refined to the point it's identical to God Eater 3's version, however, that's not what we're hoping to see succeed today..

When it shifts into glaive form, I gaze nervously to see how things turn out as so far the problems come solely from the glaive form's activation. For the most part, the general use of the glaive itself is working as intended, meaning the earlier weakness of the locking mechanism was fixed by the latest design.

Soon enough it comes time to shift it out into Dual Blades once more, both me and Dr. Sakaki paying close attention as the simulation moves to begin the decoupling of the glave mode into Dual blades..

However, much to our shared surprise, the Glaive form returns to Dual Blade mode once again which means that the simulated Prototype has passed the trials at long last. I make a sigh of relief as Dr. Sakaki chuckles with an excited gleam in his eyes as at long last our hard work has paid dividends and now all that is left is a physical prototype to be made and tested..

But with the simulation being proof of concept being a success, there is almost no doubt that the prototype itself will prove to be a resounding success during the physical testing stage. "Well then, It seems our hard work in designing the new God Arc has paid off at last, hasn't it Scáthach?" Dr Sakaki says with a pleased smile, with me nodding with a small yet satisfied smile.

While in the original version of events, the Dual Blade God Arcs were only for God Eater 3 with no real explanation of how they were developed. Here though, as Scáthach, I can safely say that I am the original designer of the Dual Blade God Arcs, well in-universe at least..

"I honestly wasn't sure if we'd ever finish Doctor, especially not so soon!" I say, amazed at our lightning-fast progress although Dr. Sakaki just chuckles and responds by saying.. "Well, if it weren't for you having already done a fair bit of the schematic design work, we'd be working entirely from scratch.."

I chuckle at Dr. Sakaki's words while internally finding amusement due to the fact all I did was technically use access to my first life's internet resource and access to the myriad of images and source material to make at least the basic framework.

While I do acknowledge that I was the one who actually made it happen very early in the timeline, I have to give a large amount of credit for the sheer technical knowledge at Fenrir for all of this..

Ultimately, however, with the simulated testing now wrapping up I can head back to my room to relax. While I do walk over to my room though I find myself briefly walking by Alisa as she has come out of the medical room for her brainwa–*cough* medication *cough*..

Seeing her just reminds me how the choice I have yet to make, bringing my pleasant mood down to a more somber and retrospective one. I know for a fact that if I were to capture Alisa, she would be broken out of her brainwashing and would be unaffected by any further attempts to do so..

However, she's not exactly stable to begin with right now, at least not truly. While she does seem normal, it's clear that if she encounters that Aragami again she'll break down and that will at one point result in Lindow being either separated or worse, killed..

But now that I actually look at Alisa, I realize that I can't actually allow her to be used as a pawn in another's scheme. Although I know that if I go through with capturing her, I change the course of this world's plot for good, I cannot knowingly allow this to continue..

However I'll need to bide my time, despite the urge to capture her now and break her free as I need to wait until we're away from Fenrir and any form of surveillance before I begin the process as if I recall her tier, she'll need time to be captured regardless..

So I'll have to wait before I can arrange a mission with just the two of us so I can capture her that way, however, I'll keep in mind that the Fenrir sensors likely keep watch on a God Eater's biometrics so I'll have to surprise her by throwing her into my pocket dimension first.

While I could technically do that now, it'd be too suspicious if it happened in the base with cameras potentially watching what happens unfolding. So in the end I decided to wait until tomorrow to request a mission between me and Alisa, which I can only hope will get approved without an issue..

With that in mind, I decided to turn in for the day in hopes of preparing for what I have planned, both the Darksteel Vajra hidden in my shadow and the Shroud of Shadows approving of my plan to capture another, although more for the sake of wanting additional allies for my sake..

Far East Branch, The Den - The Next Day

(Scáthach's P.O.V)

Well, I am both happy and annoyed at the exact same time because of this morning's events. First, my mission request was approved by the director himself, who seemed quite pleased I'm taking a direct interest in another God Eater, especially a New-Type one although it's possible he plans to use Alisa in some way..

While I am happy about that, the reason I'm annoyed is simple, I have been waiting for 30 minutes now for Alisa to show up. Surely by now, she would be ready, even if Alisa had been put through another brainwashing treatment, although I doubt even then that would be the case for the long absence..

However, before long I soon see Alisa coming over with a look of annoyance on her face as she says.. "I'm surprised I'm being forced to babysit a non-god eater out into the wild, I have no idea why the director would even allow this.." All while my annoyance and anger rise with each word she says..

Oh yea, I forgot how arrogant this woman is, at least before her breakdown into a better person. Not to mention judging from her words, she hasn't heard of my skills yet which is both annoyance and a potential boon.

Still, I might as well keep to her assumption for now as we head out to deal with some Ogretails. A mission that is simple enough that we won't have to worry about any unexpected occurrences, although I plan to engineer one of my own by throwing Alisa through the portal and making her effectively disappear on sensors, as well as me.

I already have a cover story I plan to use as well as the area in question is infamous for black-outs in communications at random intervals. Something I plan to take full advantage of for what I plan to do..

"Lead the way then Ms. New-Type God eater~" I say with an amused smirk, making the woman roll her eyes as we head out, although I really have to question her choice in combat attire due to how revealing she is, I mean her bust practically exposed if you move her jacket enough in one direction..

Thankfully it won't be all that much of a distraction, considering the seriousness of what I plan to do..

Somewhere in the Far East Sector - 20 minutes later

(Scáthach's P.O.V)

I watch as Alisa keeps a close eye on the aragami in front of us, doing my best to look impressed in order to keep up the facade that the arrogant woman oh so graciously bestowed upon me herself..

Considering her canon disregard for Old-types, I'm not surprised she would view me even lower due to seemingly being dead weight. Of course, by the time I am done with my plan, I know she'll be changing her tune quite swiftly..

So far the blackout has yet to occur, meaning that with how many Ogretails she's killed, I can only hope the communications blackout happens soon before we're required to return to base. However before I find myself worried about a potential failure, my luck changes as I can hear Alisa cursing as she can no longer communicate with the Den.

The effect should last roughly 20 minutes, so I need to move fast. Mentally apologizing to Alisa for what I'm about to throw at her, I mentally call on the Darksteel Vajra still hiding patiently in my shadow for their part in the plan..

Without warning it leaps out of my shadow and lands nearby, startling Alisa as her eyes widen drastically at the utterly massive and metallic-silver-furred version of the Vajra. Before she can even process what she's witnessing, the Darksteel Vajra rushes at her and roars, the white-haired young woman freezing as she is likely having flashbacks before she's suddenly slammed to the ground by the paw of the Aragami..

It slowly removes its paw once it sees that Alisa, while injured, has been rendered unconscious from the sudden attack. If she were a regular person, she would have been flattened and killed right then and there, but thankfully she's only knocked out..

Not wanting to risk being interrupted in the process of capturing Alisa, I open a portal into my pocket dimension and call back the Darksteel Vajra into my shadow as I pick up the poor girl and begin to walk inside..

Pocket Dimension of Scáthach

(Scáthach's P.O.V)

Once I'm inside with the unconscious Alisa in my arms, I close the portal behind me. I see that the portal put me just outside of the manor so I gently put the girl down and let the cloak appear over my body suit..

"Alisa Ilinichina Amiella, before this moment you have been a pawn in a man's convoluted scheme to save humanity, now I shall take you into my embrace personally so that you may finally have a chance to be your own person.." I say as kneel down and place a hand on her forehead.

The shroud of power immediately rushes forward and begins to wrap up Alisa's body in a shadowy cocoon before I am suddenly hit with a ton of visions. Memories of Alisa's childhood before the trauma, memories of her life after it, the feeling of guilt and despair and the gratefulness towards the director for helping her to sleep peacefully at night, away from the trauma..

Shadows seep into Alisa's wounds and begin to restore her body, the initial build-up to the power of the Waifu Catalog's Body-tune-up one-time heal. The effects of the drugs are being purged from her system as time passes, normally for one of her tier this would be a process of 10 minutes, but due to being unconscious, it will take 5 minutes.

Soon enough, a shadowy cloak of her own forms over her body as the cocoon finally releases her and the shadows return to my own Shroud of Power. Her own cloak goes from having a shadowy look to fading to reveal a regular Shroud of power, red like her skirt and beret.

And before long, I feel the conjunction connection form between us and soon Alisa awakens. Her first thoughts are shock and surprise as she sits up to stare at her surroundings before looking directly at me, all while I smirk at her reaction..

"Welcome Alisa Ilinichina Amiella, to my true home and now your true home too.." I say while smiling softly, bending over and holding a hand out for her to take. Initially, Alisa hesitates before she finally reaches out and locks her hand into mine..

And with that one gesture, I have sealed the deal for changing this world's future…

Author's Notes

At long last, I have been able to get this finished.

I want to apologize to all of my readers for how long this took to finish, there is just so much I want to have ready to set up for what lies ahead. So, let us get down to the fine print of what happened in this chapter..

The Darksteel Vajra

Originally, I was planning to capture an Ouroboros instead, or even perhaps the very same aragami that had traumatized Alisa. However I decided for developmental reasons, it would be instead a lesser-known variant of the Vajra known as the Golden Vajra that I would capture.

This beast of an Aragami has quite a plethora of abilities in its Golden Vajra state but now that it's the Darksteel Vajra, it has new abilities that are a result of both being a much stronger aragami than the Ogretails and also due to Scáthach's innate mystical nature.

In the end, this aragami will serve to be her animal companion for the majority of the early worlds at least.

The Completion of the Dual Blade God Arcs

While there is no physical prototype yet, the concept itself is completed and now merely awaits physical testing. But for the most part, it is finally finished, this may come into play should our dear Queen of Shadows return later on..

Alisa's Capture

And at long last, we have crossed the threshold of no return. Alisa is quite literally a pivotal instrument in Lindow's forced separation from the cast and without her, there is no resurrection arc to occur.

What this may mean in the future is uncertain, but now we have to explore a version of events where Lindow is still around. This is going to be interesting to write although I don't anticipate taking much longer in dealing with this world..

Unless something drastic happens..

So, next time on Wrapped In Shadows: Scáthach and Alisa talk, Aki Tameshiro tests the Dual Blade God Arc and Scáthach VS Soma..

See you on Monday folks!